Anker Debuts First Made for iPhone Certified Flash Accessory Designed for iPhone 11

[MacRumors]

Anker today debuted a new Made for iPhone (MFi) certified LED flash accessory that's designed to connect to the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max through the Lightning port.

Though a product link is not yet available, The Verge says that the new accessory is launching next month and is priced at $49.99.

The flash accessory will be recognized by the new iPhones and can be triggered by the default Camera app and third-party camera apps. It will last for approximately 10,000 shots per charge and comes with a detachable diffuser option.

Compared to the built-in iPhone flash, Anker says that the flash can achieve twice the range and four times the brightness.

Anker's new flash option is the first Made for iPhone flash accessory that's been designed, but as Apple has now opened up its Made for iPhone program to these kind of camera accessories, we can expect additional Lightning-based flashes to be released in the future.

iPhone flashes are not new and there have been other options available in the past, but this is the only one that is Apple certified and able to be synced with the iPhone's camera through Lightning.

Article Link: Anker Debuts First Made for iPhone Certified Flash Accessory Designed for iPhone 11

 

[44267547]

Anker is a great company with a solid reputation with build quality (Especially with their battery chargers).

 

[Morgenland]

In general it's a somehow pretty nice idea for me.

Nevertheless I will buy an off-iPhone-flash as soon as it has a nice form factor of e.g. a 1/4 iPhone. It then will fit in my pocket and still has the volume needed to integrate a powerful battery.
Anker is a great company with their battery chargers but a camera tool should not be designed like a funny game cube IMHO.

At least I would be really enthusiastic if one can use several flashes via e.g. Bluetooth like a professional DSLR can do, because then you can shot really great effects.

Also a specifiable flash sequence would be great. OK, Anker has now initiated the run, now I'll wait and see what comes next.

Of course Apple's own future setup might compensate any lag easily by shutter delay (e.g some 100ms) or use their ultrafast AirDrop based peer-to-peer protocol (rate approx. 1.3Gbps!).

Maybe Apple will grace us with something really professional... They might enhance their Camera App to support such professional needs.

I'll skip that one and wait for the next step coming soon...

 

[tylersdad]

So only the iPhone 11 and greater can use this? Is there something special about the 11 series that makes it only possible on these phones?

 

[Blackstick]

Will surely please iPhone photogs, Anker has a great reputation.

 

[OriginalClone]

These iPhone photo accessories are expensive. I know it’s the convenience, but when you start getting all these add-ons it’s not only inconvenient to carry around, but you might as well buy a dedicated compact camera. You’ll get way better pictures..

 

[dcopelandia]

Oh good..... something has come along that will replace this ridiculous looking thing

 

[citysnaps]

So only the iPhone 11 and greater can use this? Is there something special about the 11 series that makes it only possible on these phones?

I'm guessing there is something special with the 11. Otherwise they'd likely want to sell many more flash units, with resulting greater revenue, if it worked with earlier iPhones as well.

 

[Trik]

Am I missing how this is supposed to anchor to the iPhone? Or do they expect me to hold it like some old timey photographer?

 

[zorinlynx]

Why LED? The iPhone already has an LED flash. This would be a lot more useful if it were a xenon flash tube that can put out a lot more light and freeze action.

I hope some company releases a true xenon flash accessory for the iPhone; that would rock.

 

[Mousse]

Am I missing how this is supposed to anchor to the iPhone? Or do they expect me to hold it like some old timey photographer?

View attachment 885068

If you don't understand the benefits of an off camera flash, then an off camera flash is not for you. I never use the built in flash on my camera unless I have nothing else. Hail, I've even used a flashlight and a white sheet of paper on several occasions. It wasn't great but preferable to flat lighting of a built-in flash.

 

[afd]

I read the title and thought it’d be a lightning flash drive and thought that’d be worth having. Not so sure I’d want an external flash for an iPhone. The phone I had before the iPhone came out was a Sony Ericsson K800i which had a built in Xenon flash, I think it took until my iPhone X before iPhones could take better indoor night photos.

 

[Mdracer]

Interesting idea from Anker. I would like to see if this could be used for deep shadow effects.

 

[gene731]

I read the title and thought it’d be a lightning flash drive and thought that’d be worth having. Not so sure I’d want an external flash for an iPhone. The phone I had before the iPhone came out was a Sony Ericsson K800i which had a built in Xenon flash, I think it took until my iPhone X before iPhones could take better indoor night photos.

That is what I thought as well just glancing at the headline. External flash storage through the lightning port and I thought oooh that could be cool. Oh well.

 

[OriginalClone]

Why LED? The iPhone already has an LED flash. This would be a lot more useful if it were a xenon flash tube that can put out a lot more light and freeze action.

I hope some company releases a true xenon flash accessory for the iPhone; that would rock.

I’m quite certain it’s because of power consumption.
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Oh good..... something has come along that will replace this ridiculous looking thing
View attachment 885067

That’s a ring light though. Different lighting.

 

[krusnof]

That is what I thought as well just glancing at the headline. External flash storage through the lightning port and I thought oooh that could be cool. Oh well.

SanDisk 32GB iXpand Flash Drive for iPhone and iPad - SDIX30C-032G-GN6NN, Black

The perfect companion for your iPhone, the iXpand Flash Drive lets you free up space on your iPhone, back up your camera roll, and even watch videos straight from the drive4. The flexible Lightning connector works with most cases and the USB 3.0 connector plugs into your Mac computer or PC, makin...

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[dmylrea]

Maybe Apple will grace us with something really professional...

Like a $999 Professional external flash unit made for the same market as the new Mac Pro?

 

[Crowbot]

I think in principle it's a pretty nice idea. Nevertheless I will buy an off iPhone flash as soon as it has a nice form factor of e.g. a 1/4 iPhone. It then will fit in my pocket and still has the volume needed to integrate a powerful battery. But this Anker device looks too much like a funny game cube for me.

At least I would be really enthusiastic if one can use several flashes via Bluetooth like a professional DSLR, because then you can shot really great effects. Also a specifiable flash sequence would be great. OK, Anker has now initiated the run, now I'll wait and see what comes next.

Maybe Apple will grace us with something really professional...

I think they corded it to reduce any lag in activating the flash. There's going to be some lag with Bluetooth.

 

[whitedragon101]

I would love a flash powerful enough to bounce off ceilings for the iPhone. I have been experimenting with triggering a yongnuo flash using the iPhone flash but you don’t get any control over the exposure. The camera meters for no flash then takes a shot as the big flash fires in light the camera didn’t expect.

 

[Futurix]

... but you might as well buy a dedicated compact camera. You’ll get way better pictures..

I'm pretty sure the market for compact cameras is nearly dead now, as the quality was nearly equalled by top smartphones, and the only (disappearing) advantage is optical zoom.

 

[Plutonius]

If you need this accessary, you might do better with a dedicated camera.

 

[diogenis]

The beauty of the iPhone's camera is 1)you always carry it with your phone and 2)it's very sensitive in the dark. Eventually there are way better cameras but for an added weight.

 

[henryhbk]

While an off camera flash is a better photographic tool, the whole point with a cell camera is that it's the camera you always have. Some dangly wired thing will never go into a pocket and survive. Yes, bounce flash would be great, but I can't put that in my pocket so therefore never coming with me. I'll use my 5dmkiv when I need the big flash... I suppose this could go in my emergency kit (I carry the iPhone clip on lenses in case my 5d isn't working at some critical event)

 

[a.coward]

Why LED? The iPhone already has an LED flash. This would be a lot more useful if it were a xenon flash tube that can put out a lot more light and freeze action.

I hope some company releases a true xenon flash accessory for the iPhone; that would rock.

First, there is already a Xenon flash accessory for the iPhone, the Godox A1. But, it's based on Bluetooth, not Lightning, and you have to use their dedicated app, not the built-in camera.

It's hard to say how this flash works without more details, but my guess as to why it is LED is because of limitations due to the iPhone cameras using a "rolling shutter". Because of this, the lighting source has to be more "continuous", so to say, than what a Xenon flash can provide (at least without severely limiting the shutter speed as what the Godox A1 does -- hence requiring a dedicated app).
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I’m quite certain it’s because of power consumption.

Please see my previous post. My guess it is probably due to sync speed with the rolling shutter.

However, what you say does have some merit. In theory, you can "strobe" a Xenon flash in a similar way to what is used for high-speed-sync with camera systems using a "focal plane" shutter. This then simulates a "continuous" stream of light. As you alluded to, this would require substantially more power and large capacitors. At the same time, power output would be greatly reduced to a point where a continuous LED would be just a good in most cases.

 

[Morgenland]

I think they corded it to reduce any lag in activating the flash. There's going to be some lag with Bluetooth.

Yes right.
Of course Apple's own future setup might compensate such lag easily by shutter delay (e.g some 100ms) or use their ultrafast AirDrop based peer-to-peer protocol (rate approx. 1.3Gbps!). They might enhance their Camera App to support such professional needs. Let's wait and see...